James R. Coffey - History Defined

The Last Black Jockey to Win the Kentucky Derby:James Winkfield

Between 1900 and 1903, jockey James Winkfield rode in four consecutive Kentucky Derbies. He finished third, first, first, and second. In 1901 alone, he won somewhere between 160 and 220 races (depending on the source). But despite his extraordinary, natural talent as a jockey, Winkfield received little recognition from within or without the horse-racing community. […]

The Last Black Jockey to Win the Kentucky Derby:James Winkfield Read More »

Mark David Chapman: The Man Who Gunned Down John Lennon

For millions of people around the world, December 8, 1980, will forever be remembered as one of the darkest days in modern history. It was the day former Beatle John Lennon was gunned down outside his New York City apartment building by a man named Mark David Chapman. Chapman was a former Beatles fan who

Mark David Chapman: The Man Who Gunned Down John Lennon Read More »

The Jesus Freaks: Origins of the Religious Countercultural Movement

In the late 1960s, amid the so-called “Hippie” counterculture movement taking place in the US, a charismatic minister named Duane Pederson came onto the scene. He preached Christianity to the generation known for promiscuous sex, mind-expanding drugs, and pulsating Rock music. A self-described “Jesus Freak,” Pederson drew comparisons between the Hippies’ message of peace and

The Jesus Freaks: Origins of the Religious Countercultural Movement Read More »

Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas: A History of Organized Crime

In truth, the Vegas of today resembles little the Vegas of yesteryear, on the surface, anyway. But one needs only stroll through the Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas to remind them of “Sin City’s” not-too-distant past. There the names Meyer Lansky, “Bugsy” Siegel, Gus Greenbaum, and Moe Sedway aren’t torn from newspaper headlines or the pages of True Crime magazine, they represent

Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas: A History of Organized Crime Read More »

H.P. Lovecraft: Tales From the Edge of Darkness

In speculative fiction, H.P. Lovecraft’s name elicits fanaticism second only to Edgar Allan Poe and Bram Stoker. But not for surpassing the bar set by these undisputed giants of the dark and macabre but for the sub-genre he carved out for himself. Credited with creating “cosmic” horror, Lovecraft shifted the genre from stories that reflect

H.P. Lovecraft: Tales From the Edge of Darkness Read More »

The Extraordinary Life and Times of the Corn Flake King: John Harvey Kellogg

For well over a century now, Kellogg’s Toasted Cornflakes, featuring Cornelius “Corny” Rooster on the box, has been a mainstay of households across America. Prototype for the hundreds of other dry breakfast cereals to follow, Toasted Cornflakes effectively put dry cereals on the breakfast menu—and Battle Creek, Michigan, on the map. But few know the story of John Harvey

The Extraordinary Life and Times of the Corn Flake King: John Harvey Kellogg Read More »

The Strange and Surprising History of Mardi Gras

For those who think Mardi Gras is a weeks-long celebration of debauchery, drunkenness, and nudity–you’re right. But only half right. At the heart of it, Mardi Gras is also a Christian holiday traced to pagan spring and fertility rites dating back thousands of years that has become a popular cultural phenomenon worldwide. And although Mardi

The Strange and Surprising History of Mardi Gras Read More »

Did Pharaoh Akhenaten lay the foundation for Abrahamic Religion?

The notion that Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten was the first to conceive the concept of the monotheistic ideology that underlies Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Baha’i is hardly original. Renowned Father of Psychiatry Sigmund Freud presented this idea in his 1939 book, Moses and Monotheist, promoting the perspective that if the Biblical Exodus is to be taken literally,

Did Pharaoh Akhenaten lay the foundation for Abrahamic Religion? Read More »

The Reverend Jim Jones: Profile of a Megalomaniac

When news reached the United States that on November 18, 1978, more than 900 members of a cult called the Peoples Temple died in a mass suicide-murder under the control of cult leader Jim Jones at the Jonestown settlement in Guyana, South America, relatively few knew much about Jones or his followers. But in the

The Reverend Jim Jones: Profile of a Megalomaniac Read More »

Cary Grant’s infamous fascination with LSD

When we think of the distinguished British actor Cary Grant, one of the most poised and debonair film stars in cinematic history, we don’t automatically associate him with a drug like LSD. But maybe we should. Though it’s not uncommon for a movie star to have a troubled or even traumatic past that leads to

Cary Grant’s infamous fascination with LSD Read More »